29-04-2025
Score in the kitchen with recipes from Winnipeg Jets 1981 cookbook
In the NHL's 1981-82 Norris Division semi-finals, 19-year-old Dale Hawerchuk scored eight points as his Winnipeg Jets were defeated in a best-of-five by (checks … the St. Louis Blues.
That season's Calder Trophy winner, who put up 103 points as the league's top rookie, solidified his superstar reputation during the 3-1 series loss in the opening round, doling out four assists in the Jets' lone win.
What was the secret to the future Hall of Famer's early success? Could it have been his signature dish?
The Dale Hawerchuk Monster Cookie was the left-handed centre's contribution to The Jets Are Cookin', a spiral-bound cookbook assembled by the wives of the Winnipeg Jets featuring dozens of family recipes from players, coaches and administrative staff. (Taking the lead was Gail Long, wife of blueliner Barry Long, a two-time AVCO Cup winner with the Jets who retired from professional hockey following the 1982 season.)
The 1981 cookbook, a fundraiser for the Children's Hospital, is a finger-licking, nose-wrinkling time capsule of culinary trends, vintage rosters and back-in-style mullets.
This particular copy was discovered in the basement of former South Osborne bookseller Nerman's, and rare first editions can be found online for between $35 and US$165.
Winnipeggers can also peruse the cookbook in the local history room at the Millennium Library.
The Jets Are Cookin' appears to be the team's first foray into community cookbooks — a popular fundraising and public relations platform at the time — but not its last.
A followup, entitled What's Cookin' With the Jets?, was published in the '90s with recipes from the likes of Teemu Selänne and Tie Domi. And in 2014, the second iteration of the hockey club released Our Jets at Home, a player cookbook that included then-captain Andrew Ladd's Monster Cookies recipe.
Professional hockey seems to create big cookie cravings.
Unlike monster cookies of today — which are typically filled with M&Ms, oats and peanut butter — Hawerchuk's version was simply monstrous in size, with each chocolate chip cookie calling for an ice cream scoop's worth of dough.
'I don't think he got that recipe from mom,' says Dale's sister Dayna, who checked with Hawerchuk's junior-hockey billet family in Cornwall to see whether the rookie was introduced to the Monster by Mrs. Bissonnette; that was a no.
'It looks like it came off a bag of chocolate chips or something.'
Published in an era when players still smoked between periods, The Jets Are Cookin' isn't a health-conscious read. The recipes are a mix of American, Swedish and French-Canadian fare (an indication of the team's makeup) with no shortage of cheesy vegetable casseroles, seafood surprises and decadent desserts.
The Jets, however, did stay active in the off-season, according to write-ups in the cookbook, with Toronto-born Hawerchuk playing 'all sports,' watching horse racing at Assiniboia Downs and spending time at the family cottage in Oshawa.
An avid barbecuer with an affinity for steak, chicken, pasta and peas, the rookie Hawerchuk's favourite local restaurant was Paladio, a long-shuttered eatery on Grant Avenue.
As the Jets 2.0 prepare for another first-round face-off against the Blues tonight, we bring you a vintage game-day feast from The Jets Are Cookin' — hopefully, the results (in the kitchen and on the ice) will be cause for celebration four decades later.
Find below a recipe for a boozy Orange Slush from captain Dave Christian and his wife Bonnie. The couple met on a blind date in their home state of Minnesota and arrived in Winnipeg in 1980 immediately following David's gold medal appearance with the U.S. Olympic team — a tournament in which the hosting Americans beat the Soviets in a final dubbed the 'Miracle on Ice.'
Defenceman Bryan Maxwell and wife Debbie shared their Crab Dip recipe in the cookbook. After meeting in a Medicine Hat arena, where he played junior hockey and she figure skated, the pair spent three seasons in Winnipeg with their firstborn, Nicole.
Biff a la Lindström isn't an original family recipe from former right winger Willy Lindström, but rather a popular Swedish dish akin to a hamburger patty. Off-ice, Lindström spent his time golfing and repairing cars, while wife Britt enjoyed squash and cross-country skiing with the family's dog, Guy.
Eva WasneyReporter
Eva Wasney is an award-winning journalist who approaches every story with curiosity and care.
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Ben WaldmanReporter
Ben Waldman is a National Newspaper Award-nominated reporter on the Arts & Life desk at the Free Press.
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